Sunderland beat Newcastle in local derby triumph

Sunderland climbed off the bottom of the Premier League table with a 2-1 home win over arch-rivals Newcastle in the northeast derby on Sunday.

The Black Cats’ first league win of the season, following seven defeats and a draw, was secured by goals from Steven Fletcher and Fabio Borini and saw manager Gus Poyet enjoy victory in his first match in charge at the Stadium of Light.

Mathieu Debuchy equalised for Newcastle and the match was heading to a draw until Borini’s brilliant winner from 25 yards out with six minutes left secured victory.

Sunderland’s victory was not good enough to take them out of the bottom three and fans of the Wearside club will need no reminding that one of former manager Paolo di Canio’s few successes during his tempestuous time in charge was a derby win over Newcastle.

But this result at least gave the Black Cats hope of avoiding the drop.

Sunderland, whose chaplain presented a team shirt to Pope Francis just days before the game, were ‘blessed’ with a goal just five minutes into the match when Fletcher headed in at the far post after an excellent cross from Adam Johnson.

Newcastle, however, equalised in the 57th minute when, after Hatem Ben Arfa’s shot was allowed to run across the box, right-back Debuchy turned in the loose ball from just four yards out for his first Magpies goal.

In Sunday’s other Premier League matches, Chelsea can go level on points with second-placed Liverpool if they beat fellow title contenders Manchester City at Stamford Bridge while Tottenham will look to get back amongst the top four by defeating Hull.